Cool Restaurants in Havana: Café Laurent

29th October 2015

By Havana Insider

Grilled Mahi-Mahi fish garnished with vegetables

The hip Café Laurent is located on the top floor of an eclectic building in the heart of Vedado, just a few blocks away from the historic Hotel Nacional. This paladar is refurbished from an old apartment, but one can still have the cozy feeling of dining in a living room. And this is precisely what makes this restaurant so charming and unique.

The tables are evenly distributed between the dining room and a spacious terrace, which opens up to a spectacular view of the sea and Vedado. The décor is discreet, with white dominating most of the restaurant and big windows covering most of the walls.

As far as food, the menu is clearly international with a heavy dose of local ingredients and side dishes. We ordered fried vegetable tempura with tomato paste; the food was good but our only complaint is that avocado is not the best vegetable to serve as tempura. For main dishes, we ordered grilled Mahi-Mahi with baked potatoes, which was savory and perfectly cooked. The squid ink risotto is also recommended. The service was swift and friendly and the views from the windows are spectacular. It’s a great place for both lunch and dinner.